


Shit used to be simple, ya know?

by Dragonpikachu



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Friendship, Ryuji and Ann visit Shiho in the hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:09:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25864897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonpikachu/pseuds/Dragonpikachu
Summary: I think they mention Ryuji Ann and Shiho were friends in middle school but I wanted to kinda explore that a little with this. I think they're cuteEnjoy!
Kudos: 9





	Shit used to be simple, ya know?

**Author's Note:**

> I think they mention Ryuji Ann and Shiho were friends in middle school but I wanted to kinda explore that a little with this. I think they're cute
> 
> Enjoy!

Hospitals made him nervous for some reason. Not sure why, they just did. Maybe it was something about the smell… or maybe how many people were here… or maybe the fact people probably died here all the time. That was probably it actually. Regardless, Ryuji was here, sitting outside one of the rooms. He bounced his leg anxiously while he waited, what the hell was taking so long?? Well, it probably took a lot of time to change bandages actually… but the extra time did nothing for his anxiety. The more time he spent here, the more out of place he felt.

Which… wasn’t wrong he supposed. He really didn’t have a good reason to be here. Ryuji sighed thinking back on his impulsive thought this morning. Why on earth did he feel the urge to visit Shiho in the hospital? They hadn’t spoken since middle school!

But… maybe that was why?

Ryuji couldn’t help but think back to it, back then things felt… not better exactly but it was still nice. It was simple. He wasn’t really friends with her and Ann back then but they didn’t hate each other. They were like, frenemies. That was a good term. He’d crumple up paper and throw it at them, they’d get him back with a kick me sign taped to his back.

Shit like that, it was fun.

But they did talk eventually. Ryuji smiled thinking back on a particular day. He’d yelled something at some bully picking on a younger kid, didn’t really remember what, but it led to him on his back getting his ass beat by the dude. At least until the girls had shown up, he laughed remembering how shocked he felt when he saw them start hitting the guy with these giant tree branches they found.

After that things were a little different. They still loved to drive each other crazy of course, but they’d do little things for each other. Ryuji would run off people making fun of Ann, Shiho would sometimes help him with homework… little stuff like that. He still remembers the time Shiho gave him her cupcake at lunch after hearing about his dad.

High school made things messy, it feels like people expect more from you there. They didn’t have time to talk anymore, and after his incident with Kamoshida, he was pegged as a punk delinquent who no one wanted to socialize with. People probably would have dragged them down with him if they kept talking with him after that.

Not that it really mattered in the end. Shit had still gotten fucked up in the end for both girls, particularly Shiho.

He still shutters at the thought, her jumping. He didn’t see it himself, and honestly he was kind of thankful for that, it was hard enough seeing her on the stretcher. He could hardly imagine how Ann felt… apparently she had seen the whole damn thing.

It still boiled his blood at how nonchalant Kamoshida had been about it. How Ann didn’t kill the bastard he’d never know.

“Huh? Ryuji? What are you doing here?”

Ryuji jumped and looked up, only to see Ann looking down at him confused. He quickly stood up.

“Well I…” shit what was he gonna say to her “it’s visiting hours, I’m allowed to be here, ain’t I?”

Ann eyed him for a moment. “Yeah, ok… but this is Shiho’s room.”

Ryuji completely blanked on what to say. What the hell could he say? He didn’t really… he shouldn’t be here…

“Ok honey, she’s all set for you to come in now!”

Both turned to the door, a nurse smiling at them sweetly.

“Uh…” now he just felt awkward. “I gotta… I gotta go…” he said as he grabbed his bag.

The nurse frowned. “What? But you’ve been waiting here for a half hour! Don’t you wanna at least say hi to your friend?”

That made Ann’s eyebrows shoot up.

Ryuji just stood there with his hands in his pockets, eyes firmly locked on the floor.

“Hey” she said after a moment, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Come on, let’s both go in huh?”

He didn’t say anything, but he quietly followed her into the room.

____

Actually, it was probably good luck Ann decided to visit today. It would have been awkward for him to just turn up by himself to see Shiho after not talking to her in forever.

He just stood leaning back against the wall as he watched the two of them talk. He had to admit, he felt a little more at ease after seeing Shiho, she looked a lot better. She still had a lot of medical equipment all over the place in her room, and she made a point to cover her legs with a blanket, but her smile while talking to Ann was genuine, and Ann was obviously very happy to be with her. He was glad they still had each other.

Still, he was starting to feel weird, just standing here. He felt like he was intruding on their time together. Maybe if he made his way slowly to the door, they wouldn’t notice…

“Ryuji?”

His head popped up at Shiho’s voice. She was smiling at him.

“Uh… yeah?”

Ann motioned for him to come over. He hesitated for a second, but then made his way over to the bed.

“It’s nice to see you again” she told him “What are you doing here?”

Normally a question like that would make him get defensive, but Shiho’s voice was soft and her smile was sweet.

“I… I don’t know, I was in the neighborhood?” he tried.

Ann gave him a skeptical look and Shiho raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah ok…” he ran his hand through his hair for a moment, trying really hard to think of words to say. “I guess I was just… feeling nostalgic? That’s… kinda dumb when I say it out loud…”

To his surprise, both girl’s faces softened.

“No… that’s not dumb” Shiho said, looking down slightly. “It’s kinda sweet actually. It’s nice to think back on better times.”

“Yeah, heh,” Ann laughed. “Oh boy, remember that time we put that chalk in our teacher’s coffee Shiho?”

Both girls giggled, but the thought made Ryuji’s face scrunch up.

“Hey wait a minute, I got in trouble for that!”

“Oops.” Shiho said, trying to stifle her laughter. Ann however, was ready to fire back.

“Well that’s what you get, that was like right after the time you stuffed a towel down the toilet. It basically exploded when I used it!”

“Ok but to be fair, that wasn’t meant for you! And I told you not to go in there!”

“I had to pee! And it’s not like you told me what you did!”

Their argument was cut off by Shiho’s giggles turning into full blown laughter. It was the kinda laugh you get swept up in, didn’t take long for both him and Ann to get caught up in it too.

“I missed this…” Shiho said after their laughing fit.

“I think we all did,” Ann added with a smile.

Ryuji couldn’t have kept down his giant grin even if he wanted to.

____

They must have been there for hours, just talking (and occasionally fighting) about stuff they used to do, until a nurse told them visiting hours were over.

“Oh shit, were we here that long??” Ryuji said, surprised.

“Heh, this always happens when I’m visiting” Ann said sheepishly.

“It’s nice,” Shiho told her. “I appreciate it, both of you.” she gave Ann a hug, and was surprised when she motioned for him to come over too. He hugged her gently, a little afraid of hurting her, but her’s was warm as she gave him a little squeeze before letting go.

After their goodbyes, Ann and Ryuji walked out of the hospital together in a comfortable silence for a while. Ryuji was kinda afraid to ruin whatever moment they had back there, so he kept quiet. But after a bit, Ann spoke up.

“You know… if you ever want to come with me to visit her, it’s ok to ask.”

Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck for a minute, thinking about it. It was nice. Whatever this had been, it was nice.

“Thanks”

“Of course”


End file.
